April 20.⊙,

After a few days of cloudiness, the sky finally cleared and the sun shone brightly.

After the Qing army paused on the banks of the Luan River for a long time, they finally made a move again. They pushed forward for more than a hundred miles, pushed to the north bank of Chaohe River, and set up camp.

The next day, Duoduo ordered Zu Dashou and Wu Sangui to lead 10,000 Liao cavalry across Chaohe, twenty miles away from the base camp.

The Qing army's scout vanguards arrived directly at the Great Wall Pass of Gubeikou. They showed off their power and shouted and provoked.

Mandarin Chinese is rising and falling under the gate, one wave higher and one wave higher, like singing a big show.

On the Guancheng in Gubeikou, Zhang Wannian, who was the old man who was strong and just rejuvenated in his new year, was responsible for guarding Zhang Wannian. Because he wiped out the scouts of the 100 cavalry vanguards of the Qing army with one company during his patrol last time, his achievements were conveyed to the heavens. He was specially ordered to be granted the position of battalion commander and promoted to the Left Military Academy. His troops also had more than 600 soldiers.

Zhang Wannian also changed into the battalion commander's new official uniform, with two silver tigers sewn on his arms.

He was wearing high leather boots, a brass-headed cowhide belt, and a command knife given by the emperor. Zhang Wannian stood on the top of the city and looked down, sneering at the clown-like Qing captains.

The first company commander was having a meeting with several of his platoon leaders on the top of the city. When he saw the battalion commander coming, he quickly stood up and stood attentively to salute.

Zhang Wannian replied with a gift, "What are you talking about?"

"Reporting camp, we are having a meeting to discuss. If the Tartars dare to get closer and enter the range, give them some color."

"What are you going to do?"

The first company commander replied loudly, "Report to the battalion, our company has several sharpshooters, and we used the Nine-Headed Bird Five-Stage Blocking Rifle equipped in the company to kill the Tartars."

The Jiutou Type 5 was developed and restructured by Jiangnan Ordnance Factory on the basis of the original Jiutou Type 5. After several improvements, the Jiutou Type 5 is a new type of musket with a range far exceeding that of ordinary flintlock guns. This musket can have a range of more than 300 steps, and the lead bullet used is also a special armor-breaking bullet.

Each of this new type of musket weighs 30 kilograms and needs to be equipped with a tripod support when used. This blocking gun is bulky and has a slow loading speed. You must carefully clean the chamber after each shot.

For these reasons, this kind of gun is destined not to be used to equip ordinary infantry. From the very beginning, this kind of gun was used to block combat, only to equip the sharpshooters, specifically to block the enemy's commanders, gunners, flag bearers, etc. on the battle formation.

In normal configuration, only those vanguards will be equipped with blockers and equipped with this kind of blocking gun. Each gun has two soldiers, one main shooter and the other observer.

Zhang Wannian's battalion is considered a light infantry battalion, and is now temporarily placed on the closure to assist in defense.

Almost every company of their battalion has blockers.

However, Zhang Wannian was not happy after hearing the report, but glared at the company commander.

"Did you forget the order issued by the army a few days ago so quickly? How did I convey the order to you at that time? Do not attack without authorization, and never fire the first shot. As long as the Tartars did not cross the ditch in front of the city wall, they would never fire a single shot. Have you forgotten it?"

"But"

"No, but the soldiers take obedience as their duty. This is the creed of our Han Empire's official army. This is what His Majesty himself said. What else do you don't understand?"

"But these Tartars are too arrogant."

"So what? Don't Your Majesty know that the Tartars are arrogant, Privy Councilor, Minister of War, Chief of General Staff, and Don't they know that the Tartars are arrogant? But since they have issued such an order, then as qualified imperial soldiers, you must absolutely obey the orders."

"Yes!" The company commander raised his chest and raised his head, and replied loudly.

"Speak louder!"

"Yes!" the company commander shouted. Zhang Wannian nodded with satisfaction, "This kind of mistake must not be repeated. I don't want to see a second time happening, otherwise. Just wait for the removal of your armor and return to the field. Go back and write a check for me, no less than a thousand words!"

"Yes!" the company commander shouted, but his heart was extremely bitter.

Zhang Wannian turned around and left, continued to patrol forward, the company commander put down his hand, sighed and sat bitterly on the ground.

Several platoon leaders in the company carefully comforted the company commander.

"You said, does Your Majesty really want to negotiate peace with the Tartars?"

"These Tartars are too arrogant. If you want me to tell me, you should beat them back."

"That's right, if I order a fight, I must kill three or five of them. I will earn military merits and get a medal."

The company commander glared at several subordinates, "Don't make noises, there are the above-mentioned considerations and arrangements. Have you never attended classes? This is called overall coordination and overall perspective. Don't just stare at the small part in front of you. Your Majesty is the emperor. He is standing at the highest point and sees the situation in the whole world. What we have to do is not to make noise here. We should guard our mission. When the above really orders us to send troops, we will have to take out our energy and fuck the fucking Tartars hard. Don't think that medals are so difficult and military merits are so easy to earn. Let's see if our battalion commander has been a veteran for more than 30 years. Last time we went out, we forced a company to kill 100 Tartar scouts cavalry."

"That's not a hundred bandits, but a hundred Tartar scouts cavalry, and there are several leaders and Bayala inside."

A captain smiled and said, "It's a pity that we met the Tartar scout cavalry that time, otherwise the credit might be ours. Company commander, you might be the battalion commander."

"Are you fucking serious, don't smile, do you know if the arrogant soldiers will be defeated? Your Majesty usually spends so much money and gives us generous salary, excellent equipment, and sufficient training. It is normal for us to beat the Tartars. If we can't win, it is abnormal. The key is that we want to win beautifully, and we must win beautifully like the battalion commander. The battalion commander brought about two hundred people to annihilate one hundred Tatar cavalry. It sounds like fighting less, but the result is that one hundred Tatar cavalry was wiped out. The battalion commander did not die, and even one was seriously injured and disabled, and only a few were traumatized. This is the most amazing thing. Don't usually be dissatisfied with one person, you have to earn military merits and medals, and you have real skills. When you have the ability of the battalion commander, you can also get a medal."

The company commander was angry at Zhang Wannian, so he tried hard to criticize his subordinates, and finally felt a little more balanced.

"Okay, go back to each department, remember that as long as the Tartars have not crossed the trench, they are not allowed to fight back. We are not allowed to fire the first shot, do you understand?"

“Yes, stay seat.”

"Get out now."

At the passes and fortresses in the Great Wall in Yanbei, officers at all levels of the Han Dynasty were reiterating the above orders. No attacks are allowed without authorization, and no first shot is allowed.

Whether the soldiers understood or not, this command was still very easy to execute.

The Tartars provoked under the jail for three consecutive days, but the Han army was unmoved.

The city was bustling like a day, just like setting up a stage to sing a big show. But the city was quiet and there seemed to be no one, only the back of the castle occasionally cast a few cold gazes. This silent reaction made the provocative Tartars below feel bored, and they feel like they are just fools and madmen.

Another day after noon, the sun was dazzling and a little hot. The Tartars shouted under the city and their mouths were dry and their faces were covered in oil and sweat, but there was still no movement on the Great Wall.

In the Qing army camp on the other side of the Chaohe River in the rear, Duoduo, Haoge and Ajige sat together, and couldn't help but feel a little restless.

The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and summer is coming, but their plans are very difficult.

The envoys they sent to the pass to pull out one after another, but they were like mud cows entering the sea without any news.

"What is Liu Jiye thinking? Does he really want to drag him down with us? Isn't he afraid of rebellion in the Central Plains or fire in the backyard?"

Haoge glanced at Duoduo and said coldly, "Maybe you overestimated the descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang. Although there are 70,000 or 80,000 descendants of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Central Plains, these people are obviously useless guys. I have never heard of any royal family rebelling against Liu Jiye."

"Also, you underestimated Liu Jiye. This person has never been judged by common sense. Liu Jiye can drag on it. But we can't drag on it. There are only half a month left in the military's food supply, so we must make a decision early."

Duoduo glared at Haoge angrily, "What does the hindsight mean at this time? If you have any good solutions, just say it."

Haoge glanced at Duoduo disdainfully and said, "Actually, if it is my opinion, we have two choices. Either we should stop as soon as possible, send someone to meet Liu Jun to express our willingness to make peace, and then withdraw back to Liaohe immediately. Or, we will send troops directly to the Great Wall Pass defense."

"The Great Wall is as solid as a wall of iron. Liu Jun is standing there and waiting for us to attack. Attacking is to die. I thought you had any good plans, but I didn't expect it to be such a stupid plan."

"What is stupid is not my plan, it is you. We attack the Great Wall, not really attacking. All we have to do is to show our attitude, let Liu Jun know how firm our will is, and force him to discuss peace with us. This is to promote peace. But you, relying on Dorgon's support, do not take me, as the general of the Western Expedition, seriously and make decisions everywhere. Now you miss a great opportunity, and have lost ground to advance and retreat, which is why you are embarrassed."

"Do you really think that is useful by fighting to promote peace? We are just soldiers entering the Great Wall and all the way down to the Great Wall, but have you seen Liu Jiye come to negotiate peace?"

Haoge was not showing any weakness, "That's because you missed a great opportunity. If you beat him from the beginning, Liu Jiye would of course be afraid. But you have delayed it until now and just sent a few people to yell at the lockdown. Is this a demonstration of your determination to attack? Are you stupid, or do you think you are very smart?"

"Haoge, I have been tolerating you for a long time!" Duoduo shouted angrily.

Haoge also shouted loudly, "Duoduo, you are indifferent to your strengths. In terms of seniority, I am your brother, and in terms of official positions, I am the general of the Western Expedition. I am also one of the four major auxiliary kings. Please respect me."

As he was about to start, Ajige had to come out to dissuade him. If he just helped his brother Duoduo fight Haoge together at this time, he would be afraid that the Western Expedition army would be over.

"Stop arguing, tell me what to do now. Liu Jiye looked like a turtle, and could not scold him, and ignored the negotiations. If we drag on this, we will be over. Whether to fight or withdraw, you can make an idea."

Haoge glared at Duoduo, whose eyes were red, and he adjusted his clothes by himself, "I proposed to retreat. Our plans have been seen through by Liu Jiye. If we drag them down, we will be very dangerous."

"You can't just retreat like this." To Haoge's surprise, Duoduo was still insisting on refusing to withdraw.

"What else do you want to wait? Wait until we run out of food and grass, and wait until Liu Jiye sends troops to cut off our way back?"

"When the chaos in the Central Plains begins, Liu Jiye will have to give in. When retreating now, we will waste all our efforts." Duoduo shouted loudly.

"You just believe that the Central Plains will be in chaos, and that Liu Jiye will give in? What if the Central Plains are not in chaos, what if the Central Plains are too chaotic, what if Liu Jiye refuses to give in?" Haoge asked.

"I bet with him, and Liu Jiye will give in." Duoduo said.
Chapter completed!